Method and apparatus for the production, delivery, and receipt of enhanced e-mail

ABSTRACT

A method for providing an e-mail system including providing a server connected to a network; inputting a message from a sender into the server to be sent as e-mail to at least one recipient mail box on the network; enhancing the e-mail message with a self-executing programmable enhancement; and delivering the e-mail over the network to the at least one recipient mail box. Optionally, the method may provide a number of e-mail boxes on the server assigned to a number of members for the receipt of e-mail addressed to the members at the server, and a menu listing a number of the self-executing programmable enhancements. An e-mail system including a server coupled to a wide area network, and a web site hosted by the server that is capable of at least temporarily storing a message to be sent as e-mail over the wide area network to at least one recipient mail box. The web site provides at least one process for enhancing the message with a self-executing programmable enhancement and information of an advertising nature to create an enhanced e-mail message. The web site further preferably includes at least one mail box associated with at least one member, whereby the member may receive e-mail in the mail box. The information of an advertising nature can include, for example, advertising banners, buttons providing a hyperlink to an advertiser&#39;s web site, a part of the self-executing programmable enhancement.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application relates to applications entitled “ElectronicMessage Payload for Interfacing with Text Contained in the Message”(Ser. No. 09/400,781, filed Sep. 21, 1999, currently pending), “System,Method and Article of Manufacture for Preventing the Proliferation ofUnwanted Electronic Messages” (Ser. No. 09/401,028, filed Sep. 21, 1999,currently pending), “Method and Article of Manufacture for a Sub-BrowserApplication Program Stored in an Electronic Message” (Ser. No.09/400,708, filed Sep. 21, 1999, currently pending), “Method and Articleof Manufacture for Delaying Advertisement Execution in a GeometricElectronic Media Distribution Framework” (Ser. No. 09/400,711, filedSep. 21, 1999, currently pending), and “Textual Hyperlink Capable ofInputting Text as a Parameter while Executing an Associated Link” (Ser.No. 09/400,712, filed Sep. 21, 1999, currently pending) which were filedconcurrently herewith and are incorporated herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to electronic messages and, moreparticularly e-mail systems utilizing an HTML format for delivery over aTCP/IP protocol network.

E-mail systems of various types have been available for many years. Insuch systems, user computers or “machines” typically are eitherintermittently or are permanently connected to a network, such thatelectronic mail (“e-mail”) can be sent from one user's machine toanother. Most e-mail systems allow address books and distribution liststo be maintained, such that the e-mail can be sent to one or moredesignated user machines.

Proprietary e-mail systems have, of course, the associated cost ofimplementing and maintaining both the network and the e-mail system.With the advent of global networking systems, the cost of e-mail systemshas lessened and the popularity of e-mail systems has increased. Forexample, proprietary providers such as America On-Line (AOL) provide anumber of network services, including e-mail, for a set monthly fee.Other web-based service providers, such as Hotmail from Microsoft, Inc.,provide free e-mail services to anyone with access to the Internet.While this typically requires the payment of a monthly fee to anInternet Service Provider, other service providers such as AltaVista ofCompaq Computer Corporation provide free Internet service. Thecombination of free e-mail services with or without free Internetservices has resulted in an explosion of e-mail accounts and of e-mailmessages.

A problem with e-mail documents of the prior art is that they tend to befairly plain and, therefore, not terribly compelling as a transmissionmedia. Most e-mail is plain text, although the capability of includinghypertext markup language (HTML) can add some visual interest. There areeven some e-mail providers which provide the capability of embeddingstatic and dynamic graphics. However, e-mail is truly a “push”technology in that it is “pushed” from a server to a recipient withoutany real interactivity between the recipient and the received media. Forthis reason, while e-mail such as jokes, etc. may be passed around, themessage is quickly discarded and forgotten.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an enhanced e-mail method and systemwhich increases the enjoyment and usage of e-mail systems, andwide-scale distribution of enhanced e-mail messages. As such, it can beadvertiser supported to provide “free” e-mail services for members.Further enhancements can support paid membership services, andcommercial services can also be provided.

Briefly, a method for providing an e-mail system in accordance with thepresent invention includes providing a server connected to a network;inputting a message from a sender into the server to be sent as e-mailto at least one recipient mail box on the network; enhancing the e-mailmessage with a self-executing programmable enhancement; and deliveringthe e-mail over the network to the at least one recipient mail box. Themethod further preferably includes providing a number of e-mail boxes onthe server assigned to a number of members for the receipt of e-mailaddressed to the members at the server, and a menu listing a number ofthe self-executing programmable enhancements.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for providing ane-mail service includes providing a website capable of sending e-mail toat least one recipient mail box, enhancing a message of a sender with aself-executing programmable enhancement and information of anadvertising nature to create an enhanced e-mail message, and e-mailingthe enhanced e-mail message to the at least one recipient mail box. Theinformation of an advertising nature can include advertising banners,hyperlink buttons to an advertiser's web site, or the enhancementitself.

An e-mail system of the present invention includes a server coupled to awide area network, and a web site hosted by the server that is capableof at least temporarily storing a message to be sent as e-mail over thewide area network to at least one recipient mail box. The web sitepreferably provides at least one process for enhancing the message witha self-executing programmable enhancement and information of anadvertising nature to create an enhanced e-mail message, and fore-mailing the enhanced e-mail message to the at least one recipient mailbox. The web site further preferably includes at least one mail boxassociated with at least one member, whereby the member may receivee-mail in the mail box. The information of an advertising nature caninclude advertising banners, buttons providing a hyperlink to anadvertiser's web site, a part of the self-executing programmableenhancement, etc.

The e-mail method and system therefore provides a number of distinctadvantages over prior art e-mail methods and systems. For one, theenhanced e-mail messages are highly compelling, which will attract usersand members to the web site. This increases the advertising value of thesystem. Furthermore, the e-mail messages are so compelling that theywill be passed around the Internet among friends and acquaintances. Thiswill increase visibility of the web site and will also have advantagesadvertising value. Still further, the ability to push web-type content,audio and/or visual files, and programs to users in the form ofself-executing e-mail programs adds a new level of functionality to theInternet.

These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparentto those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following descriptionsof the invention and a study of the several figures of the drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a depiction of an Internet based e-mail system in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary home page of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2A is an illustration of an exemplary member's page of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2B is an illustration of an exemplary member sign-up page of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an exemplary e-mail of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the execution of the firstapplication program of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a graphical user interface of the presentinvention that is displayed upon the execution of the first applicationprogram, and which is used to display the text of the first electronicmessage and any functionality associated therewith;

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of the functionality displayed uponexecution of the first application program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates the execution of the second application program ofthe present invention which is initiated upon the selection of one ofthe “FORWARD”, “REPLY”, or “NEW” icons displayed in the graphical userinterface of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a graphical user interface associated withthe execution of the second application program in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the continued execution of the secondapplication program upon the selection of the “SEND” or other similaricon on the graphical user interface of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operations associated with thefetch e-mail operation of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operations associated with theformat and send message operation of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is an example of audio and/or visual content being e-mail to arecipient according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an example of an interactive game being e-mailed between tworecipients according to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is an example of a web browser being e-mailed to a recipientaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is an example of at least a portion of a website being e-mailed(“pushed”) to a recipient according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a server machine 10, a sender machine 12, and arecipient machine 14 coupled to a global network, such as the Internet16. By “machine” it is meant computer systems or other digitalelectronic device capable of communicating with a network, such asInternet 16. A typical “machine” is a personal computer, workstation, orother computer operating with a suitable operating system such asWindows NT, the Macintosh OS, Linux, Solaris, Unix, etc. Such computerstypically utilize one or more microprocessors, volatile and non-volatilememories (computer readable media), and input/output (I/O) devices whichallow, for example, communication with users and with other machines,networks, and peripherals. The network in this example is the Internetoperating on the well-know TCP/IP packet network protocols, but othernetworks such as Intranets, Extranets, and networks working on otherprotocols (e.g. Netware, Appleshare, etc.) are also suitable forembodiments of the present invention.

In the present invention, server machine 10 “hosts” an e-mail web site11. A sender at sender machine 12 can “upload” or enter message contentto the web site 11 through the Internet 16 as indicated at 13A. This istypically accomplished via a web browser on sender machine 12 “opening”the web site 11 on the server 10. The web site 11 then, under theguidance of the sender, “enhances” the message content and sends or“e-mails” the message to one or more recipient mail boxes as illustratedat 13B. In this instance, mail boxes 17A, 17B, etc. are hosted by ane-mail server machine 15 connected to the Internet 16. Such e-mailmailboxes are provided by a variety of vendors, including America OnLine (AOL), Hotmail, etc. The recipient then accesses his or her mailbox to receive the enhanced e-mail at the recipient machine 14 via theInternet 16 as indicated at 13C. Alternatively, if the recipient is amember of the web site 11, he or she can receive the e-mail directlyfrom an e-mail box 19 on the server 10 as illustrated at 13D. As notedpreviously, some or all of the various processes, services, mail boxes,etc. may be distributed around the network 16, as will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art.

In FIG. 2, a “home page” 18 of the present invention is “hosted” on aserver 10 connected to the Internet 16. By “hosted” it is meant that acomputer program implementing a process capable of displaying the homepage 18 and interacting with users connected to the Internet 16 resides,in part or in whole, on the server 10. It should be noted that theInternet 16 is suitable for supporting distributed computing, where thecomputer implemented processes are shared among multiple machines, aswill be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In the present example, the home page 18 includes a navigation bar 20and a content area 22. The navigation bar 20 include hypertext “links”,typically to other pages supported by the server 10 or by other servers(e.g. by a server of an affiliate). In this example, the navigation barincludes links to “home”, “about”, “sign-up”, and “contact” pages, whichare preferably (but not necessarily) hosted on the server 10. The “home”link will return to the content area 22 of the home page. The “about”link will create a content in content area 22 that describes the company“eSprinkles.com” and its services. The “sign-up” link will create acontent in content area 22 for member sign up. This page will bedescribed in greater detail with respect to FIG. 2B. The “contact” linewill create a content in content area 22 for contacting eSprinkles.com,such as by e-mail, telephone, postal service mail, etc.

The navigation bar 20, in this example, also includes a member area 24which can be accessed by typing in an account, a password, and“clicking” on an “enter” key. This will create a content in content area22 which permits a number of member services that are not available tonon-members. An example of a members content area will be discussed withreference to FIG. 2A.

Also in the exemplary navigation bar 20 is an area where “Affiliates”are listed. These Affiliates can have a business relationship with thee-mail hosting company (eSprinkles.com in this example), or may havepaid to be listed as an Affiliate, or may pay for “click throughs” fromusers at the eSprinkles.com web site.

Typically, the navigation bar 20 will remain regardless of the content(e.g. page or other content) of the content area 22. This provides aconsistent and convenient method for navigating the entire publiclyaccessible “web site” of the e-mail provider, in this example, thepublic web site of eSprinkles.com.

The content area 22 of the home page 18 has a header “eSprinles.com”, aswell as its trademarks “Do you want that plain, or with eSprinkles?”There are then a number of fields that can be filled-in, including a“To:” field for e-mail addresses of recipients. This can be one or moree-mail addresses such as “jdoe@aol.com” or “jdoe@aol.com:rsmith@hotmail.com, fjones@esprinkles.com.” Then, there is a “From:”field where the sender can type his or her name, such as “Sam Adams” andan “Re:” field where the sender can send a regarding message such as “HiJane!!” The message itself can be typed into a message field. Scrollbars can be used for fields that might contain more information that canbe displayed within the “window” of the field, such as the “To:” fieldand the “Msg:” field.

The sender then has the option of enhancing his or her message witheSprinkles. These are shown arranged by categories such as “Business”,“Friends”, “Family”, “Commercial”, and “Affiliates.” Of course, thesecategories are merely exemplary, and other categories are contemplated.For example, and without limitation, there can be a “Top Ten” categoryand a “Best Of” category. Within each of the categories, there are anumber of enhancements or “eSprinkle” e-mail enhancements. For example,if the “Tinkerbell” eSprinkle e-mail enhancement is chosen from theDisney affiliate, a Tinkerbell could flutter across the e-mailsprinkling fairy dust and then land on a Disney link button.

At the bottom of the screen, a number of “buttons” may be provided toprovide specialized functions. For example, a “Clear” button can clearthe field of the content area 22. A “Review” button will allow thesender to review the e-mail message, with its enhancements (if any)before sending the enhanced e-mail message. A “Send” button allows thee-mail to be sent, and a “Join eSprinkles.com Free!” button allows auser to join the eSprinkles web site as a member in order to enjoyadditional features of the e-mail system, such as being able to receivee-mail at an eSprinkles.com e-mail address. At the bottom of contentarea 22 are some links to go “Back” one page, “Forward” one page, or“Home.”

A members page 26 is shown in FIG. 2A. The navigation bar 20 typicallystays essentially the same, while the content area 22 displays contentthat is available only to members of the web site. This page 26 isaccessed by the members area 24 of the navigation bar 20 (see FIG. 1) byentering the account number and password. The content area 22 of themembers page 26 of FIG. 2A in this example includes a number of linksincluding “Account Information”, “e-mail concentrator”, “Enter” AddressLists, “Upload” Address Lists, “Enter” Distribution Lists, “Upload”Distribution Lists, “Customized eSprinkles”, “Become an eSprinkleDeveloper”, and “eSprinkle Video Mail.” The Account Information opens alink or window or screen which allows a member to view, modify and/orupdate his or her member profile and other account information. Thee-mail concentrator allows a user to set up a process by which e-mailfrom other e-mail accounts (e.g. AOL, Hotmail) is forwarded or“concentrated” at his or her eSprinkles e-mail account. As an option,notifications of the existence and use of the eSprinkles e-mail accountmay be sent to other accounts in an address book, manually entered, etc.The Address Lists “Enter” and “Upload” links allow e-mail addresses tobe entered into the member's account, or to be uploaded to the member'saccount. To upload the e-mail addresses, a member can, for example, havea text-based list of his or her e-mail addresses as a file on his or hercomputer, and then direct the website to copy this file onto themember's website based address list. Similarly distribution lists suchas “friends”, “family”, “club members”, can be created or uploaded bythe member to the website. The Customized eSprinkles can be of themember's own design, and stored on the website for future use. Memberscan also become eSprinkle developers, who may be included on the homepage 18 should they create a notable eSprinkle e-mail enhancement. TheeSprinkle VideoMail feature allows a window to be opened on an eSprinklee-mail message that connects, via the Internet, to the eSprinkle websitein order to play an audiovisual “VideoMail” message to the e-mailrecipient.

FIG. 2B illustrates an exemplary member sign-up web page 28. Moreparticularly, the web page 28 includes the navigation bar 20 and acontent area 22 that includes, in this example, several membershipoptions. More particularly, content area 22 gives the option of a free(advertising sponsored) e-mail service, or an enhanced e-mail service ata monthly charge. In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, acommercial version of the service allows for mass enhanced e-mailmessaging (preferably of a non-spamming nature) at a fixed rate, e.g.for five cents a message. The advertising supported “free” e-mail caninclude banner advertisements (of the “click through” type or not), andbuttons which provide hyperlinks to advertiser web pages. It will beappreciated that “click through” banner advertisements and buttons arevery similar in nature. Advertisers can pay for each message sent, orfor “click throughs” from the banners and buttons. The paid membershipis designed for non-commercial users that are willing to pay for moreenhanced e-mail functionality, such as the ability to create customizedeSprinkle enhancements, to upload distribution lists, etc. Theadvertising may be omitted for paid memberships, although a link to theeSprinkle web site (which is a form of advertising by the e-mail systemhost) is likely to be included. In addition, it is contemplated that theability to send audio and/or video information in the form of an e-mailwill be a paid membership benefit, since such information requires asubstantial amount of disk storage space on the server.

As seen in FIG. 2B, the exemplary member sign-up page includeshyperlinks labeled “eSprinkles.com Free eMail” and “eSprinkles.com Withthe Icing”, for the free and paid membership services, respectively. Thefirst link, in this example, opens a window or web page 30 which allowsa user's name, e-mail “handle” or screen name, password, and passwordclue to be entered. This screen is kept very simple to encourage usersto sign up for a free e-mail account. Alternatively, more informationsuch as the member's postal service mailing address, other e-mailaddresses, telephone numbers, member demographics, etc. can be asked, atthe tradeoff of perhaps obtaining fewer free members. Signing up for thefree service are intended to provide a number of member services such asa free e-mail account maintained at the server for the member, theability to create address and distribution lists, and the ability to usethe e-mail concentrator.

The “eSprinklcs.com With the Icing” is a paid membership service forthose willing to pay for additional member services. When accessing thissecond link of web page 28, a window or web page 32 is opened which asksfor the information of page 30 and, in addition, address and credit cardinformation so that the monthly charge can automatically be applied tothe credit card. Some additional member services of the paid service arecontemplated to include the ability to upload addresses and distributionlists, the ability to e-mail audio and video content, and the ability tocreate and edit their own enhancement content.

As mentioned previously, the membership page 28 contemplatesnon-commercial usage of the web site. As such, unlimited e-mails can besent, but the ability to create large mailing lists is preferablycurtailed. This is to prevent over-use by commercial entities and toprevent “spamming”, i.e. unwanted e-mail broadcast to large distributionlists. It is contemplated that the free e-mail membership will have avery limited distribution list capability (e.g. 20 members in adistribution list), while the paid membership will have a somewhatlarger list capability (e.g. 100 members in a distribution list). Thiswill make it difficult for commercial users or “spammers” to createdistribution lists of many thousands or even millions of e-mailaddresses.

Also as mentioned previously, the present invention includes the abilityto create commercial distribution lists as well. This can be implementedin several fashions. For one, the software providing the enhanced e-mailcapability can be sold or licensed to large commercial users.Alternatively, the web server can provide this capability by allowinglarge distribution lists to be uploaded to the server, and then thee-mails can be sent to the recipients on the distribution lists. Thissecond method also allows for easy monitoring of the number of sent anddelivered e-mails for billing purposes to the commercial user.

In FIG. 3, an exemplary enhanced e-mail message 34 is illustrated. Thee-mail message 34 includes a header 36 with sender, recipient, and “Re”information, and a body 38 with message content and advertisinginformation. The message content can include message text input by thesender, and may be enhanced by a self-executing program. In thisinstance, the program replaces the word “I” with a pair of eyes havingpupils that “look at” or track the cursor, and which also replaces theword “Love” with a beating heart. The advertising information includesbanner/buttons 40 and 42. The advertising can be for a third partyadvertiser (amazon.com in this example) as illustrated at 40′, or can beadvertisement for the e-mail provider itself (eSprinkles.com in thisexample) at 40. By clicking on an advertising banner/button 40′, thee-mail provider may be paid per click, e.g. ten cents a click-through,or may be paid by a percentage of the sales made by the advertiser tothe person who clicked on the banner/button.

It will therefore be appreciated that the present invention includes amethod for providing an e-mail system including that includes providinga server 10 connected to a network 16; inputting a message from a senderinto the server to be sent as e-mail to at least one recipient mail boxon the network; enhancing the e-mail message with a self-executingprogrammable enhancement; and delivering the e-mail over the network tothe at least one recipient mail box. In the present example, the senderuses a sender machine 12 provided with a web browser to interact with aweb site hosted on the server 10, while the recipient uses a recipientmachine 14 which can interact with the web site on server 10 if therecipient is a member with an e-mail box on the server 10.Alternatively, the recipient can be in communication with a mail boxhosted anywhere over the network 16 by connecting to the network throughthe services of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Therefore, therecipient(s) do not need to have direct interaction with the server 10of the present invention in order to receive enhanced e-mail.

It will also be appreciated that an e-mail system of the presentinvention includes a server 10 coupled to a wide area network, such asthe Internet 16; and a web site hosted by the server that is capable ofat least temporarily storing a message to be sent as e-mail over thewide area network to at least one recipient mail box, the web siteproviding at least one process for enhancing the message with aself-executing programmable enhancement and information of anadvertising nature to create an enhanced e-mail message, and fore-mailing the enhanced e-mail message to the at least one recipient mailbox. Preferably, the e-mail system web site further includes at leastone mail box associated with at least one member, whereby the member mayreceive e-mail in the mail box.

FIGS. 4-11 illustrate a method and a system for providing an applicationprogram adapted to be incorporated as a “payload” of an electronicmessage. Such application program is automatically initialized after theelectronic message is selected by a user. After initialization, theapplication program is executed. The execution of the applicationprogram includes various features.

For example, such execution may include displaying text included withthe first electronic message, displaying indicia, allowing entry oftext, and sending the entered text and the application program over anetwork in a second electronic message to a second user upon selectionof the indicia. In one embodiment, a code segment may be executed whichincludes as a parameter at least a portion of the text included with theelectronic message, thus incorporating the text with any type offunctionality, i.e. graphic, etc. Still yet, other features may beincluded such as an advertisement that is displayed only after theelectronic message is forwarded a predetermined number of instances.Also, the text included with the electronic message may constitute ahyperlink which, when selected, links to a site and enters the text as aparameter upon such linking.

As will become apparent, the personal text of the electronic message mayinduce the user to open the mail while the functionality may serve as aninducement to send the electronic message to another user. This in turnmay be used to incur visits to a particular site on the network. In thealternative, it may serve to afford widespread exposure ofadvertisements or any other feature that supports e-Commerce.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the execution of the firstapplication program associated with the first electronic message that issent to a first user. The first electronic message may be received overany network such as a wide area network. In one embodiment, such widearea network may include the Internet and the first electronic messagemay be transmitted using a protocol such as TCP/IP and/or IPX. The firstelectronic message includes a first application program incorporatedtherein by any desired technique, along with a message, i.e. graphic,textual, audible, etc., generated by a previous user. In one embodiment,at least a portion of the first application program includes a JAVAAPPLET. In the alternative, such first application program may includecode segments written in any desired object-oriented computerprogramming or markup language.

As shown in operation 400 of FIG. 4, the first application program ofthe first electronic message is automatically initialized upon beingselected, or “opened”, by a user on an electronic mail browser, i.e.NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR, MICROSOFT OUTLOOK, etc. Such selection mayinclude “clicking” on an identifier of the first electronic message, orany other technique enabled by the electronic mail browser. Upon suchuser action, the first electronic message is initialized immediately inan automated manner. To accomplish this, the first application programmay depart from an “attachment” in the traditional sense, and beincluded in the first electronic message itself. Further, the electronicmail browser must be capable of automatically recognizing and executingthe computer or markup language employed by the application program, acommon capability among electronic mail browsers.

Initialization of the first application program may include determiningvarious variables and other parameters required to execute theapplication program, or any other “pre-execution” duties. For example,one of such parameters may comprise the body of text included with thefirst electronic message.

In one embodiment, hypertext markup language may be included with thefirst electronic message to contain the parameters and call anotherportion of the first application program such as a JAVA APPLET locatedat another site on the network. It should be noted, however, that thehypertext markup language itself or any other computer or markuplanguage included with first electronic message may constitute acomponent or an entirety of the first application program. In otherwords, any desired portion(including no portion) of the firstapplication program may be positioned at a separate location on thenetwork.

Programs that execute the foregoing eyeball graphic feature are commonlyknown to those of ordinary skill. Such programs commonly use atan(2) inorder to compute the angle between the eyeball and the mouse cursor. Anexample of a code segment that executes the mouse listener feature, andthat calls the eyeball graphic feature is as follows:

import java.applet.*; import java.awt.*; import java.lang.*; importjava.util.*; import java.awt.event.*; import java.net.*; public classHelloAgainWorld extends Applet { Image backBuffer; Graphics backG;String s = “null”; public void init() { //this.setLayout(null);this.setLayout(new FlowLayout(FlowLayout.LEFT)); s =getParameter(“info”); StringTokenizer parser = new StringTokenizer(s);try { while(parser.hasMoreTokens()) { String a = parser.nextToken(); if(a.equals(“I”)) { Eyeball2 eye = new Eyeball2(this); eye.setSize(30,30); add(eye); Clicker click = new Clicker(this);eye.addMouseListener(click); } else { Label helloLabel = new Label();helloLabel.setText(a); helloLabel.setForeground(new Color(170, 27,140)); add(helloLabel); } } } catch (NoSuchElementException e) { } }public void paint(Graphics g) { maintain(); super.paint(backG);g.drawImage(backBuffer, 0, 0, null); } public void update(Graphics g) {maintain(); super.update(backG); g.drawImage(backBuffer, 0, 0, null); }void maintain() { // Maintain the back buffer and the graphics contextthat is directed towards the back buffer. { int w = getBounds().width;int h = getBounds().height; // If there is no buffer or it is the wrongwidth, or it is the wrong height, then adjust the back buffer. if (backBuffer == null || backBuffer.getWidth(null) != w ||backBuffer.getHeight(null) != h ) { // Adjust the back buffer.backBuffer = createImage( w, h ); // If we have a backBuffer, then makea graphics context that is directed towards the back buffer. if(backBuffer != null) { // Dispose of any previous graphics context thatmay have pointed to a previous back buffer. if ( backG != null ) {backG.dispose(); } // Now create the graphics context that is directedto the back buffer. backG = backBuffer.getGraphics(); } } } } } classClicker implements MouseListener { Applet a; URL url; Clicker(Applet _a){ a = _a; } public void mouseClicked(MouseEvent evt) { } public voidmousePressed(MouseEvent evt) { } public void mouseReleased(MouseEventevt) { AppletContext ac = a.getAppletContext(); try { url = newURL(“http://207.82.252.253/cgi- bin/linkrd?lang=&hm  action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eneostar%2ecom”); } catch(MalformedURLException e) { System.out.println(“I was a malformed url”);} ac.showDocument(url); } public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent evt) { }public void mouseExited(MouseEvent evt) { } }

It should be noted that any type of functionality may be incorporatedduring the execution of the first application program. For example,advertisements may be displayed, etc.

FIG. 7 illustrates the execution of the second application program ofthe present invention which is initiated upon the selection of one ofthe first indicia 506, i.e. the “FORWARD”, “REPLY”, and/or “NEW” icon,displayed in the graphical user interface of FIG. 5. In particular, itwill be assumed in the present description that the “NEW” icon has beenselected. It should be noted, however, that given the presentdescription it would be well within the ability of one of ordinary skillto implement the “FORWARD” and “REPLY” functions. With respect to the“REPLY” icon, there may be a need for a mechanism of transferring thebody of text from the first application program to the secondapplication program. This may be accomplished by a “cookie” or similarmetadata-type information.

As shown in FIG. 7, a second application program is initialized upon theselection of the first indicia 506 in operation 700. It should be notedthat, in one embodiment, the second application program may be acomponent of the first application program thus rendering a singleapplication program. In one embodiment, the first application programincludes an un-signed application program and the second applicationprogram includes a signed application program.

Similar to the first application program, initialization of the secondapplication program may include determining various variables, and otherparameters required to execute the application program. Next, inoperation 702, text fields are installed for allowing entry of text bythe first user.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a graphical user interface associated withthe execution of the second application program. As shown, a pluralityof text fields 801 are displayed within the frame 500 of the networkbrowser. Included are a destination text box 800 for allowing theinsertion of an electronic mail address of a desired destination, asubject text box 802 for allowing entry of a subject of a message, abody text box 804 for allowing entry of a body of text or message, and akey word text box 806 which is adapted for allowing entry of the keystring parameter. Also included is second indicia 808 which may take theform of a “SEND” icon or the like.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the continued execution of the secondapplication program upon the selection of the second indicia 808, i.e.“SEND”, on the graphical user interface of FIG. 8. As shown, inoperation 900, the text is first retrieved from the text fields 801 ofthe graphical user interface of FIG. 8 Next, in operation 902, the textis verified to ensure that each of the necessary text fields are filledand valid. For example, the text boxes 800 and 804 may be required.

If it is determined by decision 903 that the verification of operation902 fails, a complaint is issued in operation 904. Such complaint maytake the form of a pop-up window or the like, and may describe thenature of any defects. On the other hand, if the verification ofoperation 902 succeeds and all of the necessary fields are filled,information associated with an electronic mail server of the first useris retrieved in operation 905. This may be accomplished by accessing ahard drive of a computer of the first user which is running the networkbrowser and electronic mail browser. The purpose of obtaining thisinformation is to identify a server from which the information in thetext fields 801 may be sent in the form of a second message. In thealternative, a single designated server may be automatically identifiedby the second application program, thus obviating the need to access thehard drive of the computer of the first user.

Upon identifying a server from which the second message is to be sent,the second electronic message may be formatted and sent to a second userin operation 906. Upon being sent, another verification may be executedin decision 908 in order to ensure that the second electronic messagewas sent in a satisfactory manner. If successful transmittal of themessage is not verified, a complaint may be issued in a manner similarto that discussed hereinabove with respect to operation 904.

If, on the other hand, successful transmittal of the message is verifiedin decision 908, the second application program may optionally link thefirst user to a site on the network in operation 910. Such site may beidentified by the second application program. This feature may thus beused to increase a number of visits, or “hits”, on a particular sitewhich in itself may warrant substantial consideration.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operations associated with thefetch e-mail operation 905 of FIG. 9. As mentioned earlier, this may beaccomplished by accessing a hard drive of a computer of the first userwhich is running the network browser and electronic mail browser. Beforethis may be effected, in operation 1000, the browser(s) that iscurrently in use may be detected after which the appropriate informationmay be accessed in operation 1002. As an option, permission to retrievesuch information may be gained from the first user prior to any actionbeing taken.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the operations associated with theformat and send message operation 906 of FIG. 9. The format refers tothe hypertext mark-up language of which an example was provided earlier.In order to generate such format, a string is first created in operation1100. Thereafter, a preamble is appended to the string in operation1102. Thereafter, the body of text and key string parameters areappended in operations 1104 and 1106 after which a postscript isappended in operation 1108. An example of each of the foregoing appendedelements are outlined as follows using the example set forth earlier:

Preamble

<HTML>

<HEAD>

<TITLE>Practice Applets</TITLE>

</HEAD>

<BODY>

<APPLET CODEBASE=“http://esprinkles.com” (*1^(st) app. program*)CODE=“HelloAgainWorld.class” ARCHIVE=“eyejar.jar” WIDTH=1000 HEIGHT=1000ALIGN=left>

Parameter

<PARAM NAME=info VALUE=“. . . body of text . . .”>

Parameter

<PARAM NAME=keystring VALUE=“I”>

Note: multiple key strings and adaptive keys may be used to identify theletter, expression, word, phrase, pattern, format, etc.

Postscript

</APPLET>

</BODY>

</HTML>

With continuing reference to FIG. 11, a message object is then createdin operation 1110. Thereafter, the string and appendages, or messagedata, is attached to the object in operation 1112 using the JAVA mailAPI. Using the information collected about the server, a connection isthen effected with the desired host server in operation 1114 after whichthe message object and data are sent in operation 1116. In the case ofmultiple electronic mail destinations, this operation may be repeated asmany times as required. An error status is then retrieved in operation1118 to enable the decision 908 of FIG. 9. Next, the server isdisconnected in operation 1120 and the error status is returned inoperation 1122.

One example of functionality that may be implemented by the firstapplication program was shown in FIG. 6. It should be noted, however,that any type of functionality may be employed by running a code segmentincluding as a parameter at least a portion of the text included withthe electronic message.

In various embodiments, the functionality may include the incorporationof an image, video, a specific graphic feature, or any other type ofobject for that matter. For example, any type of theme such as rabbits,earthquakes, popular icons and trademarks may be employed during thedisplay of the text associated with the electronic message. As anoption, such graphics may in some way interact with the text of theelectronic message.

For example, where the theme is earthquakes, the text may be shown toshutter or the like. Or, where the theme is rabbits, the rabbits may beshown hopping from word to word. Still yet another example includesdressing or undressing an icon in various attire or providing any othertype of feedback based on user input. As an option, the selection of thegraphic or icon may initiate a link to a predetermine site on thenetwork. Still yet, the application program may be adapted to allow theobject to be substituted with any of the strings of the text while it isbeing shown. This may be accomplished with a select and “drag” feature.

In another embodiment, the execution of the first application programmay include linking a string of the text of the first electronic messagewith a site on the network. In other words, such string constitutes ahyperlink. In such embodiment, the execution of the first applicationprogram may further include automatically inputting the string as aparameter to the site on the network upon selection of the hyperlink forvarious purposes. In the case where the site is a search engine, thestring may be automatically entered as a search term in the searchengine upon the selection of the hyperlink, thus prompting immediatereaction by the search engine. One example of an implementation of thisconcept is as follows:

http://www.search_engine.com/?MT=keystring&SM=MC&DV=0&LG=any&DC=10&DE=2&_v=2&OPs=MDRTP

In still another embodiment, the functionality associated with theelectronic messages provides an inducement for sending them toadditional users. With this exposure, the present invention may be usedto propagate advertisements over the network. First, the electronicmessage is provided with the application program attached thereto whichis capable of displaying an advertisement. As the message iscommunicated over the network, each instance of such communication isdetected.

As such, the number of the instances that the electronic message iscommunicated over the network may be traced. The advertisement is thendisplayed after a predetermined number of the instances greater than onehas been tracked. By employing this technique, the users will not bethwarted from forwarding the electronic message until after apredetermined geometric propagation has already taken place. It shouldbe noted that the foregoing tracking ability may also be used to base adetermination of compensation from the advertiser.

As an option, the predetermined number may be based on a Fibonaccisequence for optimized perpetuance of the electronic message. Further,the predetermined number may be based on a generation of the electronicmessage. As an option, the advertisement may be displayed byautomatically linking to a site on the network.

The forgoing descriptions provide a basic framework for understandingmany of the advantageous features of the present invention. It will beappreciated that the technology has many applications. Some of theapplications will be discussed below by way of example, not limitation.

In FIG. 12, audio and/or visual content can be “e-mailed” to one or morerecipients. There are several ways of implementing this feature, as willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art. A preferred method is for amember to provide an audio and/or e-mail message which is stored onserver 10 as a file F. In addition, a text message can be stored as afile M. The web site then creates an e-mail message E which is displayedon a recipient's machine 14 that includes (for visual messages) a windowW for the display of video information (VideoMail). This videoinformation can be a part of the e-mail message, or it can be streamedfrom the server 10 over the network, as will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art.

In FIG. 13, an enhanced e-mail of the present invention is beinge-mailed back and forth between two recipients. In this case, the e-mailincludes an interactive game of chess. A first recipient makes a firstmove on the chess-board, such as with his pointing device, and thene-mails it to a second recipient. The second recipient then makes asecond move, and e-mails it back to the first recipient, and so forth.The enhanced e-mail therefore implements a chess game program whichremembers positions, enforces rules, etc. It is therefore apparent thatthe enhanced e-mail is capable of interacting with one or morerecipients, and of increasing and modifying its store of data. It shouldbe noted that video cameras, or “micro-cameras”, that are commonlymounted on computers may be used to facilitate such interaction. Use ofsuch cameras is becoming more and more of a standard feature.

In FIG. 14, an enhanced e-mail includes a self-executing program whichimplements a web browser within the e-mail message. The recipient canthen browse the Internet with the web browser as he or she would withother web browsers. The URL of the web browser can initially direct theweb browser to an advertiser's web site. Certain controls can bedisabled such that the web browser can visit only one or a limitednumber of web sites.

In FIG. 15, an enhanced e-mail includes at least a part of a web sitethat has been e-mailed or “pushed” to a recipient. There is no reason,other than size, why an entire web site cannot be pushed onto arecipient's machine by an enhanced e-mail of the present invention.However, more preferably, certain pages of a web site may byincorporated into the enhanced e-mail message, such that links such asthe link L can form hypertext links to web pages, such as web page P,stored elsewhere on the Internet.

While this invention has been described in terms of several preferredembodiments, it is contemplated that alternatives, modifications,permutations and equivalents thereof will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and study of thedrawings. It is therefore intended that the following appended claimsinclude all such alternatives, modifications, permutations andequivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing an e-mail systemcomprising: providing a server connected to a network; inputting amessage including text from a sender into said server to be sent ase-mail to at least one recipient mail box on said network; enhancingsaid e-mail message with a self-executing programmable enhancement tocreate an enhanced e-mail including a combination of said text and saidself-executing program; and delivering said enhanced e-mail over saidnetwork to said at least one recipient mail box such that opening saidenhanced e-mail causes the display of said text and an output of saidself-executing program within a common body portion thereof.
 2. A methodas recited in claim 1 further comprising providing a plurality of e-mailboxes on said server assigned to a plurality of members for the receiptof e-mail addressed to said members at said server.
 3. A method asrecited in claim 1 further comprising providing a menu listing pluralityof said self-executing programmable enhancements.
 4. A method as recitedin claim 3 further comprising member services provided for saidplurality of members.
 5. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein saidmember services includes the ability to add and edit member accountinformation.
 6. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein said memberservices includ es the ability to concentrate e-mail messages on saidserver for a member from other e-mail boxes on said network that areassigned to said member.
 7. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein saidmember servers includes the ability to add and edit address listinformation.
 8. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein said memberservices includes the ability to add and edit distribution listinformation.
 9. A method as recited in claim 4 wherein said membersservices includes the ability to send videomail due to saidself-executing program.
 10. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein saidnetwork is a TCP/IP protocol network, and wherein said self-executingprogrammable enhancement includes HTML.
 11. A method as recited in claim10 wherein said HTML includes at least one Java Applet or the like. 12.A method as recited in claim 10 wherein said HTML includes a pluralityof web pages.
 13. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein said pluralityof web pages comprise at least a portion of a web site that has beenpushed to said at least one recipient.
 14. A method as recited in claim11 wherein said Applet is operative to open a Java window or the like.15. A method as recited in claim 14 wherein said Java window or the likecomprises a Web Browser capable of accessing web pages on said network.16. A method as recited in claim 14 wherein said Java window or the likeprovides at least one of an audio and visual link to a recorded messageon said server.
 17. A method for providing an e-mail service comprising:providing a website capable of sending e-mail to at least one recipientmail box; enhancing a message including text of a sender with aself-executing programmable enhancement to create an enhanced e-mailincluding a combination of said text and said self-executing program andassociated information of an advertising nature; and e-mailing saidenhanced e-mail message to said at least one recipient mail box suchthat opening said enhanced e-mail causes the display of said text and anoutput of said self-executing program within a common body portionthereof and the display of said associated information of an advertisingnature.
 18. A method for providing an e-mail service as recited in claim17 wherein said information of an advertising nature includes at leastone advertising banner.
 19. A method for providing an e-mail service asrecited in claim 17 wherein said information of an advertising natureincludes at least one button providing a hyperlink to an advertiser'sweb site.
 20. A method for providing an e-mail service as recited inclaim 17 wherein said self-executing programmable enhancement is capableof interactivity with a recipient of said enhanced e-mail.
 21. An e-mailsystem comprising: a server coupled to a wide area network; and a website hosted by said server that is capable of at least temporarilystoring a message including text to be sent as e-mail over said widearea network to at least one recipient mail box, said web site providingat least one process for enhancing said message with a self-executingprogrammable enhancement to create an enhanced e-mail including acombination of said text and said self-executing program and associatedinformation of an advertising nature, and for e-mailing said enhancede-mail message to said at least one recipient mail box such that openingsaid enhanced e-mail causes the display of said text and an output ofsaid self-executing program within a common body portion thereof and thedisplay of said associated information of an advertising nature.
 22. Ane-mail system as recited in claim 21 wherein said web site furtherincludes at least one mail box associated with at least one member,whereby said member may receive e-mail in said mail box.
 23. An e-mailsystem as recited in claim 21 wherein said self-executing programmableenhancement interacts with said message.
 24. An e-mail system as recitedin claim 21 further comprising at least one of an audio and a visualrecording stored on said server that is adapted to be automaticallyplayed upon an opening of said enhanced e-mail message.
 25. An e-mailsystem as recited in claim 21 further comprising pushing at least aportion of a web site to a recipient as a part of said enhanced e-mailmessage.
 26. An e-mail system as recited in claim 21 wherein saidenhanced e-mail message includes a network browser.
 27. An e-mail systemas recited in claim 21 wherein said information of an advertising natureincludes at least one advertising banner.
 28. An e-mail system asrecited in claim 21 wherein said information of an advertising natureincludes at least one button providing a hyperlink to an advertiser website.
 29. An e-mail system as recited in claim 21 wherein saidinformation of an advertising nature is a part of said self-executingprogrammable enhancement.
 30. An e-mail system as recited in claim 21wherein said enhanced e-mail message is capable of interactivity with arecipient of said enhanced e-mail message.
 31. An e-mail system asrecited in claim 30 wherein said enhanced e-mail message may beforwarded by a forwarding recipient to another recipient's mail box withinput from the forwarding recipient.